Set Your Professional Standards
As a first time homeowner that took on a major home renovation project, finding local experts became quite a challenge. Every company I spoke with assured me they were the best for the job. But come to find out, that is not always the case. After that initial phone call (if they answered or called me back), most home service companies struggled to operate in a professional manner.
At one point during this entire process I considered taking on the role of managing my renovation project. I mean, how difficult can it be? I already know what needs to be done so it should be as easy as finding a local company to tackle each individual task that is in their field of expertise. One night I went as far as to research online about how to become a General Contractor.
Scheduled Date and Times for in-person quotes became as worthless as a loaf of stale bread.
Granted my home renovation project was on the “extensive” end, I really tried my best to keep it as simple as possible. I initially started by contacting General Contractors to meet me at my home to discuss the renovation and remodeling project I had in mind. Some GC’s were very busy (completely understandable) and had to schedule an appointment for many days, even a week or two into the future. I was perfectly okay with this knowing the demand in which they operate, managing several different projects at the same time.
Well, the first GC I was scheduled to meet was a complete no show. I called this gentleman shortly after our scheduled time and was told he was “just too busy to take on any more jobs at this time.” This is where the hint of an unprofessional theme in this industry first began. I rearranged my schedule to uphold my commitment of showing up to meet this GC, but the other party had no respect to even communicate with me about being too busy, other than when I called after our scheduled time came and went.
I chalked up this situation as a loss and didn’t think about it any further. Instead, I reached out to another General Contractor that I had found while doing a Google Search in my local area. They had good online reviews, a nice website and a Facebook business page. Now we are getting somewhere, or so I thought.
Here We Go Again.
A secretary answered the phone very nice and professionally as I introduced myself and asked if they are taking on new customers for a home renovation project. The representative answered they certainly are and asked if I could give some details about the project. She assured me the scope of work I was looking for was in their field of expertise, and found a date and time in their schedule two weeks out. One of their Lead GC’s would meet at my house first thing in the morning to go over the project in person.
An afternoon time slot would have fit my work schedule better, but I did not want to risk having to wait any longer before getting this project started. I agreed to that particular date and time and gave my contact information to the representative to she could plug me into their system for “confirmation notifications.” At this point I felt it was appropriate to share my previous experience about one of their competitors not showing up and completely dismissing my project in a very unprofessional manner. The representative assured me their company is much more reputable and do not operate in any way that would reflect poorly on their reputation. I certainly appreciated that assurance and was anticipating our scheduled meeting to get this project started.
The “confirmation notifications” were a great touch. Shortly after my initial phone call with the secretary I received an email thanking me for taking an interest in their company and mentioning our scheduled date and time with my home address and phone number clearly stated. Furthermore, two days prior to our scheduled meeting with one of their Lead GC’s, I received a text message as a confirmation about our date and time. Inside the text message, my name and home address were accurately listed as well.
Ready To Get Things Started.
On the morning of our scheduled meeting, I’m in a great mood. I was able to rearrange my work schedule as to not cause any conflicts. While driving to my new house I stop and get a Starbuck coffee and still arrive about 30 minutes early. I have my notepad with all the different projects I am interested in having accomplished for my home renovation project.
At about 5 minutes before 9 a.m., my cellphone rings. I’m thinking it’s my wife calling to remind me about something to discuss with the GC. But it turns out to be a local unknown number calling. Upon answering the call, the Lead GC whom I am supposed to be meeting in 5 minutes is informing me he is running behind at a different project. He introduces himself as Scott, apologizes for his delay and asks if I will be available to meet at 10 a.m. I already have my morning shift covered at work, so I agree to hang around the property to meet in an hour. Scott thanks me and ends the call by saying he’ll see me soon.
As if this situation can’t get any worse, 10 a.m. rolls by without a call, text, email or anyone showing up for the meeting. After about ten more minutes, I call back Scott. He does not answer so I leave a voicemail, but at this point am getting pretty frustrated. I call back the company’s main office where a different secretary answers the phone. I inform her that I had a 9 a.m. meeting with their Lead GC, but Scott contacted me and asked if I can meet at 10 a.m. since he is running behind at another project. The secretary looks up my information and tells me the meeting was cancelled because I was not at the property. She said the Lead GC put in notes that he waited at the property for 15 minutes then left.
Absolutely bewildered, I explain to the secretary that I’ve been at my house since 8:30 a.m. and reiterated the conversation that I had with Scott. She then interrupted me to say that Scott isn’t even the Lead GC that was supposed to meet me that morning and that I was scheduled with Jerry at 9 a.m. Finding no point in arguing and truthfully not wanting to do business with this company, I thanked her for the information and ended the call by wishing her a blessed day.
After waiting two weeks and failing to meet with this latest company, I am extremely frustrated with my experiences with these “home service pros.” In Hines sight, it would have been smart for me to have researched other General Contractors prior to scheduling a meeting with that company two weeks out in the future. But that company having good online reviews and a nice website gave me a false sense of security that I had chosen a good team.
Let’s try a different approach.
I made a post of Facebook asking my friends for a recommendation. Within an hour I had a great handful of recommended companies to connect with. There was one that stuck out over the others by having a recognizable name. I’ve seen a few of their trucks in my area and called my friend to see how his experience was. My friend mentioned using this company in the past for a smaller home renovation project and gave me the thumbs up for them being very reputable.
Third Times the Charm.
As it turns out, I know the owner of the business from being a friend of my wife’s family. He is a very humble guy and I had no idea that he was even involved with this business. I reached out to him and had a great conversation over the phone. He lives nearby my new house and offered to meet me that evening when I would get out of work.
Making a long story short, this is the type of person I enjoy doing business with. It’s not because I personally knew the individual. The main reason is because this individual is most concerned with putting his customer’s first. He does whatever possible to ensure his customers are satisfied with every aspect of his projects. My home remodeling project took approximately 8 months, and I couldn’t be any happier with the full renovation.
I share my story because many homeowners experience something very similar. It amazes me how unprofessional many home services businesses operate. But in all reality, it doesn’t have to be this way. Throughout my experiences and hearing about other situations, there is a common denominator that would essentially eliminate this “unprofessional culture”…COMMUNICATION.
If home service professionals instill a “customer first” mentality within their organizations, a lot of these issues go away. It takes the home service companies leveling up their communication, both internally within their organizations and externally to their customer base. Proper communication is the key to making Home Service Pros great again!